Written by

John Benson

For CentralOhio.com

CLEVELAND — Similar to Bill Murray’s classic 1990s movie “Groundhog Day,” where the main character experiences the same day over and again, fans of the Cleveland Browns seemingly have had 15 years of NFL draft disappointment.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to exploit someone’s horror as entertainment, Hollywood’s latest sports movie is “Draft Day,” which opens Friday. The film stars Kevin Costner playing the role of fictional Browns general manager Sonny Weaver.

The story involves Weaver trading for the No. 1 pick and the chaos that ensues as he must quickly decide the team’s selection. However, his pursuit for excellence the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred.

After spending a portion of 2013 filming the movie around northeast Ohio and specifically at Cleveland headquarters in Berea, Costner got a taste of what it’s like to bleed brown and orange.

“They don’t even have an NFL team in Los Angeles, so quit crying,” Costner laughed from his home in Santa Barbara, Calif. “Yeah, you guys dominated and had some teams that were right on the verge of doing the same thing with Bernie Kosar and Brian Sipe.

“And now you’ve had tough sledding, but a lot of teams do and there’s no one that decides whether you stay where you’re at besides the guys and the coaches.”

That’s the mind-set he had to exude as the lead in the Ivan Reitman film Costner called the next classic sports movie. He describes the film as being “just honest” and a really great date movie. The film also includes Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Combs, Frank Langella and Chadwick Boseman.

In essence, the thrust of the film is similar to what the Browns leadership is going through now. The team doesn’t have the first pick but it does have two selections in the first round, including No. 4 overall, with a high pick in the second round.

So if Costner did hold the title of Cleveland’s general manager for this draft, would he be interested in Johnny Manziel, Jadeveon Clowney or Sammy Watkins?

“I don’t know, you had a quarterback (Brian Hoyer) who looked like he was emerging last year and he was hurt,” Costner said. “Obviously, you want a quarterback but it’s not a quarterback problem.

“You have a guy who showed he can play. Listen, I think the whole league wants to see Cleveland win. I’d like to see them win, and I think they will win. It just would be nice to see you guys make the playoffs.”

When pressed to make a pick, Costner — like a good GM before the draft — did his best to avoid answering the question.

“You should just keep going for defense because I think you have some good offense players. I really do,” Costner said. “I think if you’ve ever played, the one thing you hate is to have people in your face. And if you create a defense that’s in your face, there’s nobody that’s going to want to play the Cleveland Browns.”